Category Archives: LIVESTOCKFISH

CRP on Livestock and Fish

High-level EC-IFAD delegation tours smallholder pig projects in Uganda
ASSP / East Africa / Event / Film and Video / ILRI / Ireland / LIVESTOCKFISH / Pigs / Spotlight / Uganda / Value Chains

High-level EC-IFAD delegation tours smallholder pig projects in Uganda

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Simon Lubega (left), manager of the Wambizzi Pig Cooperative Abattoir, in Uganda, in discussion with the EC’s Roberto Ridolfi (right) and other stakeholders during a tour of his biogas plant (photo credit: ILRI/Brian Kawuma). This article is written by Brian Kawuma, communications officer for ILRI in Uganda. Members of the Uganda country team of the … Continue reading →

Tanzania’s ‘Livestock Master Plan’ kicks off with a one-year training program for government officials
Animal Feeding / Animal Production / Animal Products / ASSP / Capacity Strengthening / Dairying / East Africa / Event / ILRI / Launch / LIVESTOCKFISH / Pro-Poor Livestock / Southern Africa / Spotlight / Tanzania

Tanzania’s ‘Livestock Master Plan’ kicks off with a one-year training program for government officials

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Eight staff from Tanzania’s Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries Development are undergoing a 14-month training and planning program assisted by experts from the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) with funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Continue reading →

Towards more productive dairy cattle for Africa’s smallholders
ADGG / Africa / Animal Breeding / Biotechnology / Dairying / East Africa / Ethiopia / Genetics / ILRI / LiveGene / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Project / Research / Southern Africa / Spotlight / Tanzania

Towards more productive dairy cattle for Africa’s smallholders

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Improving the genetic makeup of Africa’s dairy cattle has the potential increase farmer productivity and profitability, hence transform the lives of millions of dairy families across Africa. This latest program, African Dairy Genetic Gains (ADGG) program, led by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), offers real opportunities to help smallholders improve their lives through livestock. It also contributes to ILRI’s global livestock genetics program—LiveGene. Continue reading →

New Kenya value chains program to lift 300,000 plus households out of poverty
Agriculture / Article / East Africa / Food Security / ILRI / Kenya / Livelihoods / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Markets / PIL / Policy / SLS / Spotlight / Value Chains

New Kenya value chains program to lift 300,000 plus households out of poverty

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Starting in October 2015, ILRI, in partnership with two other CGIAR centres, has initiated a new three-year USD25 million program to help lift 317,000 households out of poverty, making them food secure and enabling their transition from subsistence to market-orientated farming. Continue reading →

Processing African cassava peels, potentially a billion dollar business
Africa / Animal Feeding / ASSP / English / Feeds / HUMIDTROPICS / ILRI / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Nigeria / PIL / Research / RTB / Tanzania / Uganda / West Africa

Processing African cassava peels, potentially a billion dollar business

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With livestock production expected to more than double in the next 40 years, transforming cassava peels into high quality feed holds huge potential for African economies struggling to meet rapidly rising demand for animal-source products, according to research proposal recently published by three CGIAR centres. Continue reading →

Climate-smart livestock farming in developing countries is boosted by a £10-million research award
Africa / Agriculture / Animal Breeding / Article / Award / Biodiversity / Biotechnology / Breeds / Cattle / Chickens / Climate Change / CTLGH / Directorate / Genetics / Goats / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / LiveGene / LIVESTOCKFISH / Pro-Poor Livestock / Project / Research / Sheep / Small Ruminants / Spotlight / UK

Climate-smart livestock farming in developing countries is boosted by a £10-million research award

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Researchers at the Roslin Institute will be using funds from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to investigate how genetic information can improve the health and productivity of farmed animals in tropical climates, which is a proven approach to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Centre for Tropical Livestock Genetics and Health is an alliance between the Institute at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC) and the Africa-headquartered International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). The partner institutions are making additional contributions with a value of £10 million to support the initiative over the next five years. Continue reading →

New DNA analysis of Asian sheep reveals unique diversity crucial to contemporary food and climate concerns
Animal Breeding / Article / Asia / Breeds / Central Asia / China / Genetics / Geodata / ILRI / Indigenous Breeds / LiveGene / Livestock / LIVESTOCKFISH / Middle East / Sheep / Small Ruminants / Spotlight

New DNA analysis of Asian sheep reveals unique diversity crucial to contemporary food and climate concerns

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At a time when the price of mutton is climbing and wool crashing, a groundbreaking new study has used advanced genetic sequencing technology to rewrite the history of sheep breeding and trading along the ancient Silk Road—insights that can help contemporary herders in developing countries preserve or recover valuable traits crucial to their food and economic security. The new findings regarding one of the first animals ever domesticated will be published in the October print edition of the journal Molecular Biology and Evolution. They are the product of an unprecedented collaboration involving scientists in China, Iran, Pakistan, Indonesia, Nepal, Finland, and the United Kingdom. The team analysed the complete mitochondrial DNA of 42 domesticated native sheep breeds from Azerbaijan, Moldova, Serbia, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, Poland, Finland, China and the United Kingdom, along with two wild sheep species from Kazakhstan. Continue reading →

Bridging ‘biobanking’ and biomedical research across Europe and Africa: ‘B3Africa’ launched in Cape Town
Africa / Biodiversity / Biotechnology / Disease Control / Europe / Event / Geodata / Human Health / ILRI / LiveGene / LIVESTOCKFISH / Project / Spotlight

Bridging ‘biobanking’ and biomedical research across Europe and Africa: ‘B3Africa’ launched in Cape Town

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The first meeting of a new project, ‘B3Africa, short for ‘Bridging Biobanking and Biomedical Research across Europe and Africa’, was held this week (24–25 Aug 2015) at the University of the Western Cape, in Cape Town, South Africa. Continue reading →

All flesh is grass (except in Nigeria, where it might be cassava peel)
Aflatoxins / Agriculture / Animal Feeding / Article / Crop Residues / Feeds / Film and Video / Humid Tropics / ILRI / LIVESTOCKFISH / Markets / Nigeria / PIL / RTB / Spotlight / West Africa / Women

All flesh is grass (except in Nigeria, where it might be cassava peel)

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Scientists are developing a way of transforming the mountains of cassava peels created every day in Nigeria, where cassava is a staple food, into a nourishing feed for smallholder farm animals. The several CGIAR centres involved include the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI), the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the International Potato Center (CIP). Also involved in this project are several CGIAR research programs—Livestock and Fish; Integrated Systems for the Humidtropics; and Roots, Tubers and Bananas—as well as the Global Cassava Partnership for the 21st Century (GCP21). Continue reading →